Outside of goals, near misses or wonderful saves, if I had to identify one aspect of soccer that I absolutely love it would be this: That moment in a game when a team gains a sudden sense of urgency and confidence after a key moment happens in a match.
Those moments don’t happen in every game, but when they do, they’re simply splendid. It’s that moment when a team either regains their complete confidence and begins passing the ball around the pitch like a proud peacock, standing tall. Sometimes it happens after the team scores a goal. On the other hand, it sometimes happens when a team has just conceded a goal, and all of a sudden you’ll see the team combust into a frenetic fury with a renewed sense of effort. And it can happen just like that.
For managers, it must be infuriating. Why can’t teams always play like that? Why do so many of them start off slow and lax? Why do teams have to wait until they concede a goal, get a player sent off or score a super goal until that rush of blood to the head occurs?
It happens to all teams, but if I could think of an example where a team comes out of the gate as fast and furious as possible so they don’t have to wait for that moment to kick in, Manchester United would be it. It doesn’t happen all the time. Sometimes United will come out and play as if they’re sleeping especially this season when they’ve conceded the first goal far too often. But whether it’s conceding that first goal or a rollicking they receive from Sir Alex Ferguson at half time, the second half performances are better from United where they gain a renewed sense of energy, determination and purpose.
For me, I love that moment in games where you can almost feel the point in a game when that spark is lit. It’s palpable.
Some teams never seem to have it. They just drift aimlessly along. Queens Park Rangers is the best example of that this season. But whether it’s a match in the past, present or future, I just love it when I see that spark ignite on the football pitch. I have no word to describe it, but it’s something that I think we have all seen at one time or another.
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Lara
October 24, 2015 at 4:30 am
This is amazing how they play
Scrumper
January 8, 2013 at 9:47 am
Still has to be Ernie Hunt’s amazing free kick for Coventry against Arsenal. For a short while free kicks really became inventive until the FA stuck their oar in.
The Gaffer
January 8, 2013 at 8:09 pm
Here’s that Ernie Hunt goal for anyone who hasn’t seen it before:
http://youtu.be/Wjq2xT-tx38
Cheers,
The Gaffer
IanCransonsKnees
January 8, 2013 at 2:30 am
Best example I can give is when a slew of meaty challenges go in,from either side. The atmosphere in the stadium changes from a lull to one charged with electricity as you see the game being raised. Sadly when it becomes one sided the trend this season seems to be for a player whose side are on the ropes to go down. They roll around dramatically and look backwards towards the ref as play charges towards their half. If the ref doesn’t hold play up they’re soon trotting back down the pitch. Fulham and Steve Sidwell, and Sunderland and Danny Rose are the worst proponents of this tactic that I’ve seen this season.
The Gaffer
January 8, 2013 at 8:08 pm
Good point ICK. Those crunching tackles often come in that frenetic part of the game. Just goes to show that it doesn’t have to be a goal or red card to create that great part of soccer.
Cheers,
The Gaffer
Smokey Bacon
January 7, 2013 at 8:52 pm
So many big moments in games. A few that spring to mind….
The moment when Gazza got booked in the semi final against Germany. Lineker caught on camera indicating to Bobby Robson that he thought Gazza had lost it. Gazza knew he was out of the final but still played out of his skin.
Same tournament. England go 2-1 down down to Cameroon having led 1-0 in the QF. But rather than fold like a deck chair, England battle back with Lineker scoring 2 ice cool penalties.
Kevin Moran becoming the first player to be sent off in a Cup final. United down to 10 men but played like they had 12 on the pitch with Whiteside scoring one of the great cup final goals to beat Everton.
The build up to Gazza’s amazing goal against Scotland in euro 96.
It’s a great feeling when you know you are watching something special happening.
The Gaffer
January 8, 2013 at 8:07 pm
That Cameroon game is one I’ll never forget. Unbelievable!
Cheers,
The Gaffer
Ivan
January 7, 2013 at 7:51 pm
So no articles or comments on this Blog about the Ballon D’Or awards today(the results have headlined all football websites and newspapers for the day)?
No Premier League player in the best 11? (Real, Barca players and 1 Ateltico de Madrid player).
In yesterday’s 60 Minutes segment, btw, Barca’s style of play was compared to an art form that will be studied in museums in a century or so, which I completely agree with.
Messi voted no.1 player in the world for a fouth time in a row, to cement his status as the best player to ever play the beautiful game…
I understand that the Ballon D’OR is dominated by La Liga and Spanish/South American players, but not even a word here..yes, yes, it’s a Premier League blog and all this must hurt, but, come on…
The Gaffer
January 7, 2013 at 8:35 pm
Ivan, this is a Premier League blog. And the Ballon d’Or has nothing to do with the EPL. Why should we write about it if it doesn’t pertain to the coverage of this site?
As an aside, earlier today I tweeted congrats to Messi and provided a link to a website on the @epltalk Twitter feed.
Cheers,
The Gaffer